Count Down 3-2-1

   Hi everyone. It's Tuesday, and that means it's time for a new challenge over at Try It on Tuesday.

  Thank you everyone who joined our All Loved Up challenge. I love the variety of love themed art that was shared.

   For our new challenge we have one that's a little bit more specific. This time we're asking for art that fills the category of Count Down 3-2-1.

   I didn't know how this challenge would work on a journal page (of course it could have worked), but I thought it would be easier on a smaller format. I grabbed 3 of these smaller blue tags I had. I also had a pile of some stickers out on my work table, so I decided I wanted to use those.

   I started by stamping a number image to each tag (I needed to do something with the background) and then using some embossing powder.  I think the embossed background works great on 2 of these, but not so great on the other tag. 

   On the left hand tag I used one flower sticker. I colored that in and then added 2 bird stickers. Finally I stamped a 3 tiny words.

   On the middle tag I added 3 hanging Japanese lantern stickers. I then added the sticker with the 2 cranes. I noticed at this point that they are standing on 3 Lily pad leaves so I guess I didn't need the hanging lanterns. I wasn't sure what to do for the 1 part, so I added one Chinese coin also hanging among the lanterns.

   This last tag is my favorite. I almost posted just this one, but then decided why not show all 3. To make this tag I added  1 butterfly sticker, 2 boxed flower stickers and then 3 little confetti dots to show the butterfly is in motion. I colored in the stickers with some markers. 

   All of the stickers I used are just outline stickers, and I colored them all in with markers.They are oldies from a company from Starform.

   I am also linking this last tag  to Pinky's number challenge at Tag Along (and ATCs).

  Our Try It On Tuesday challenge runs for the next 2 weeks, and as always, we accept any kind of art. I found this challenge a little tricky, so I'm excited to see other people's take on it. 

   And don't forget to check out the blogs of the other design team members too.

  Thanks for stopping by, and have some fun with this challenge.

Time for a New Challenge

     Hi everyone. Happy Tuesday. It's time again for a new challenge at Try It on Tuesday. The last 2 weeks flew by, and thanks to all of you who joined our Halloween challenge. 

    Now that one holiday is over, it's time to move onto another holiday. This time our challenge has a Christmas theme and we want you to GET READY FOR CHRISTMAS.

   I decided to make some tags to put on a few special gifts. I had so much fun that I ended up making over a dozen tags.  As you probably know, the beauty of tags is that they don't take very long  and you can try out lots of ideas. Here's a few of those that I made. 

   To make these I used various die cuts, inks, stamps, paper, glitter glues, tapes, markers, paints, paint pens, and other ephemera. For the sake of brevity, I'll mention I used several Tim Holtz products, Stickles, some Little B dies, Cornish Heritage Farm dies, and some Hero Arts stamp and dies.

   Here's one of the tags enlarged. I'll also be linking this one up to Tag Along (and ATC's). They’re latest challenge is texture.

   To make this tag, I covered the tag with some swirly green paper, and then I used purple ink along the edges.  I cut out the 3 lightbulbs using an old set of dies from Little B (Christmas Icons set). I glued them down, colored in the base and used silver Stickles glitter glue on them. I drew in the cord, and also outlined the quote which is from a TH stamp set. To finish I added a small piece of velvet ribbon and also some TH washi tape above it.  I like the texture from the velvet ribbon and the Stickles. 

   Don't forget that at Try It on Tuesday our challenge runs for the next 2 weeks. We accept any type of art as long as it relates to the challenge.

   And definitely check out the other design team pieces because I know tags aren't everybody's thing to make.

   I hope you're feeling like Christmas and will join us  at TIOT for this challenge.

   

    

Time for a New Challenge

     Hi everyone. It's Tuesday so that means it's time for a new challenge over at Try It on Tuesday.

    Thank you to everyone who joined our last challenge, "Animals: Real or Imaginary". And a shout out to Sarah from Sarah's Craft Shed for being our guest designer. It was a popular challenge, but it's a favorite of mine so I get why.  I really enjoyed seeing this challenge's art pieces. 

     Our newest challenge is also a favorite of mine. This time we're asking for your Autumn Colors.

    I made a triptych of tags with some petty red autumn maple leaves on them. You might ask why I went with blue tags since blue isn't the most autumn color, but I was thinking of beautiful autumn days when there are bright blue skies and colorful leaves. All the  stamped leaves and words are from a maple leaf set called Erika's Maple by Visible Image. Ha ha. I just had to have this one, not only for the pretty leaves but because of the name.  😏 The other background images are from a Paper Artsy set.

   You might be able to tell I also used some sparkly red embossing powder on my tags too. I've been in an embossing mood for a little while now. And yes, as a few of you have mentioned, it is so fun to see it melt when you put the heat gun to it. 😏 

    Don't forget to check out the rest of the design team's wonderful autumn art. As always, you have 2 weeks to join  this challenge.

   I'm also linking these tags up to Tag Along (and ATC's too) where this month's theme is Anything Autumn.

   I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's autumn creations. Hope you'll join us at Try It on Tuesday for this challenge.

Hats

 Hi everyone. Happy Thursday. 

I'm posting today for Rain's Art and Dinner Date .  Her theme this week is hats, so let me share a few with you.

First  I have this page out of my junk journal where this dancing lady is wearing a  traditional sombrero cordobes. 

I put the quotes too close to the left hand edge, and since this journal doesn't lay very flat, my photo is crooked so you could read the quotes. 

This page has a lot of flowers, so I am also linking up to Aimeslee's flower challenge at Art Journal Journey. 

I also have another tag for  Tag Tuesday  and Michelle's Hats challenge.

This lady was way too big for my tag, so I glued her down and then cut her to size. I've been wanting to use her in some art though, and this challenge has finally let me do that. 👍 She comes from one of those art paper pages you find inside Somerset Studio magazine, and I ripped her out while cleaning a small stack of magazines a while back.

I also have some interesting food to share this week for the dinner date part of Rain's challenge. It might look very familiar to some of you.  I tried a recipe that Jeanie at  The Marmalade Gypsy shared somewhat recently. She wrote a post on  making preserved lemons, and I thought they sounded really interesting.  I've never tried one before, and since I had  bought a big bag of lemons to make my lemon cake a few weeks back  I figured I might as well use what's left of  them. Plus I managed to  have some fun kitchen play.

I only made 2 jars because that's all I had for lemons.

I stirred them the other day, but they still need to sit for 3 more weeks. I'll let you know what I think once they're ready to taste. 

And thanks Jeanie for sharing this recipe.

That's all for me today. I hope everyone is having a super week.

Sunday Art

 Hi everyone. Happy Sunday.

Today I want to share a tag for Valerie's Autumn Colors challenge over at Tag Tuesday. 

I mopped up some extra blue paint, and then once that dried, I inked my page with a brown and an orange-yellow inks.

I added the big clear flower sticker, and then I dug through my stash and added some felt leaves, a felt pumpkin, and a couple of small wooden leaves.

FInally I stamped a little quote and outlined the edges of my tag with a Sharpie.

And let me also share a narrow page made on the back of a tag in my Halloween altered book. 

I used part of a black and white I cut out of an old magazine, and then I found this colorful man in an old book. I think he looks ghostly, like an apparition on the street corner. 

I expect he'll disappear as soon as the walker gets up close to him.

And with that, I am going to "disappear" from today's post too.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. 

More Spots

Hi everyone. Happy weekend to you. 

I'm excited it's Saturday because this starts a nice stretch of days without anything on the calendar. I have lots of art ideas in my head, and I am so ready to have some uninterrupted art time. Smile!

When I made a striped tag for the latest challenge at Tag Tuesday, I also made a spotted one. Let me share that one with you today.

This time Valerie is hosting with the challenge of spots and/or stripes, being sure to make the stripes or spots the main part of your tag.

I painted my tag light blue and then painted some big pink spots. The rest of the tag was easy-peasy. I used a punch out girl from an Art By Marlene packet, a strip of washi tape, a quote sticker, and finished with a few pink confetti foam flowers. 

A couple of weeks ago I finally got around to unpacking the last 3 boxes of items I still needed to put away in my recently renovated art space.  You might remember, we removed a closet from the spare bedroom that I use as my art space. We also put in a new ceiling and floor. When I finally got through those boxes, I was able to "decorate" the new art space with some of my little tchotchkes.   

Most of my decorations are little things I've either had since childhood or I've picked up on my travels. There are also a few things that my daughter was going to get rid of that I liked and reminded me of her.  And there were small gifts or other items I collected at different times during my life. All of these knickknacks are inspirations to me in some form or another.

I like little animals made from various materials, as well as shells. And the big leg bone was something my daughter's fiance dug up while working in their driveway. I have a few other bones in my collection too, but I'm not sure they made any photos.

These green vowel letters are old. Before one of my good friends moved away in the early 2000s to North Carolina we used to hit some interesting stores on our occasional trips out. I bought these on one of our adventures.

I like this old printer's shelf for displaying my little tchotchkes. You can see lots of my little animals, as well as some other items. There's a vial of pyramid sand from Egypt one of my students brought me when he went back to visit his family, as well as a big rock I picked up off the ground in Iceland. The claws are reproductions of various dinosaur (raptors mostly) claws, and there's a little piece of the top of a wheat stalk that my husband picked up and brought home when we visited Mount Vernon (George Washington's home) when my daughter was young. That's displayed as well as a few other items like a vertebrae and some shells I found while out exploring. And a few other bits and bobs too.

Below, the Stellaluna bat and a Beanie Baby bat are both from the daughter's things, and you can  also see some tea tins I decorated for storage, a lucky 8 billiard ball and a piece of glass panada that I found on the beach.

And here's a few items I rehung. 

Yes, I have lots of little things. They make me happy. 

I could change the last 2 words of this last sign to say Erika-smile.

I am loving my new fixed up space. It might be too cluttered and crowded for some people, and I know my little bits and pieces wouldn't be for everyone either. But for me, it is a happy place to be. 

Enjoy your weekend.

 

Friday Art

 Hi everyone. Happy almost weekend to you.

Today I have some art to share with you.  Let me start with my latest page for Alison's "Play It Again Sam" challenge at Art Journal Journey.

I had a lot of fun making today's page, and even though it may not be my most "finished" looking page, I think it represents my song choice. 

I wish I planned out the words better and had had room on my page to add: 

Why not. 

Make him stay up late. 

One of my favorite bands from the 1970's and 80's is the Talking Heads. For my page today I chose their song Stay Up Late. 

I made a slight twist to my page. Instead of a human baby as implied in the song, I used these Janet Klein images and substituted a cat. After all, cats and dogs are often our babies. 

I started by inking half my page in dark grey ink and the other half of the page in yellow. I drew in the clocks and the white circles. I stamped the stars and moon. I didn't bother to color all the stamped cats on the left because the star of the show is the tiger cat asleep in Blondie's arms.  That could have been my cat Leo, because I was his possession. 

And if you've had or have cats or dogs, it is fun to tease them back sometimes and try to get their attention while their napping. I definitely don't mean torturing them though, but just to see them roll up an eye and look at you. Of course they never think twice about waking you up when you're asleep. 

I also made another tag for Valerie's Blue and Green challenge at Tag Tuesday. 

I inked my tag, added this Art by Marlene figure, and used TH quotes to tell us something about Mrs. E. Pettigrew. I also added some little foamy dots and drew in a frame to finish off my tag.

And I am linking my entire post up to Gillena's Friday Lunch Box.

I'm not sure how good I'll be at commenting this weekend as we have MIL duty. My sister-in-law that  my MIL lives with in the winter has gone off on a 10 day vacation, so my husband is splitting her care with his other sister. Luckily for us we live close enough to my MIL's house (not the SIL she lives with in the winter but my MIL's actual home) that she doesn't need to stay with us, especially since the only spare bedroom (my daughter's room) is filled with many of my craft supplies, and is therefore not walker  friendly right now. 

My MIL doesn't need constant care, but she does need someone to give her her pills and to have dinner with.  It  means we shall going up to her house to visit each day, but I'm not yet sure what or how much time that quite entails. I just hope that my husband makes plans with his sisters about the summer situation because I can see this being a tough situation if and when she moves back to her house later on this year.

I hope you have a great weekend ahead! And thanks so much for visiting.

Label Maker Type

Happy Friday everyone. Thanks for stopping by my blog. 

I'm writing this post Thursday night, hoping all the rain from the remnants of tropical storm Fred have moved out by Friday morning as I have plans for a  walk. I've only gotten in one actual walk this week  between things going on or the weather, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed I can go.

This week I have been showing you lots of pages for Neet's TYPE challenge at Art Journal Journey, and today I have one more to share. All my effort went into making the tag on this page, so I thought I would leave the background as it is.  I hope it doesn't look like I just stuck a tag onto the page.

This page started with this tag I made as an art warm up. I used watercolor paints and made a multicolored background. Then I did a lot of random stamping and added some die cut flowers that I doodled over. I also added some bits of scrap printed type tissue paper to the background also. To finish my tag, I added both a quote and a woman from an Art By Marlene punch out book. 

I attached my page to a denim page in my Dina Wakely garden journal. I then used some label maker tape (From TH all punched out, although I should have found mine and used that- that would have been a good idea for the background.). This black Maneki-neko cat die cut that was sitting on my work table. I added a bit of color to him and thought he made a great object to tie the tag and the tape and the page together. Finally I added a few plastic rhinestones that came off of this sheet of rhinestones that I picked up on markdown at some point in the past. Just because a pop of sparkle is always nice.

I guess I could have stenciled a bit of a background on the denim, now that I am looking at this piece on the computer.  I might go back and do that, but for today, it is what it is.

And  besides this journal page, today I want to take you back the Sunflower festival.

I absolutely loved visiting Coppal Farm a few weeks back.  I have some more sunflower photos today.

Not only did I enjoy walking through this big field of flowers (and they were buzzing with bees-smile), but the farm is also  a working sheep farm. They even had a few goats and chickens. And some sweet draft horses too. I'll share those photos next week. 

This was the view looking from the sunflowers back to the farm and the entrance tent they had up for the festival. If it doesn't look crowded it was because we got there just as they were opening at 10 in the morning.

And you might notice lots of bees in today's photos.

I took tons of photos of the bees pollinating the plants. I won't show you all of them, but I had to include a few.

Hope you enjoyed all these summery flowers. 

 I might not be online much this weekend as we have my husband's niece's wedding on Saturday night, and because of this wedding, my daughter and her beau will be here for weekend. My husband's niece and her beau actually got married last August in an immediate family only ceremony, but this year they are celebrating their wedding with a big shindig. The interesting thing, and a sign of the times, is that on the response card we had to check off if we were vaccinated, and if you weren't vaccinated, they asked whether you would be by the wedding. 

My daughter saw on their wedding website they had posted that all guests coming were vaccinated and that tables would be more than 6 feet apart.  The other day they sent out an email with all their celebration covid safety requests, including wearing masks. 

What I am curious about is how they are going to sit us at tables. My first thought is that we will sit with my husband's other sister's family and my mother-in-law.  I wonder if my mother in law will actually mask up. She goes on about my husband being safe (he had a kidney transplant 4 years ago) and  about him taking his immunosuppression meds ,but she never even attempts to wear a mask inside around him, so it will be interesting to see  what happens. 

I might stop by your blog at either end of the weekend, and I do have a scheduled post for Sunday night. 

Have a great weekend.